Sewed shoe.



C. BALGOM.

SEWED SHOE. APPLIGATION FILED 0611*.25, 1910.

Patented June 18, 1912.

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nmTn sTATns PATENT onnion.

CHARLES BALCOM, 0F BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR,'BY` DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, T0 HARRY F. SOMMER, OF NEWARK, NEW J'FLlRSEY.`

SEWED SHOE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 18, 1912..

To all whom t may concern.' Y

Be it known that I, CHARLES BALooM, of

Beverly, in the county of Essex and State ofV Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sewed Shoes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a boot or shoe, the margin of the upper of which is turned inwardly between the outer and inner soles, the parts being united by through and through stitches formed by the so-called Mc- Kay sewing machine.

The invention has for its object to improve the strength, durability and flexibility of the bottom of the McKay-sewed shoe, and consists in the improvements which I will now proceed to describe and claim.

Of the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specilicatiom-Figure 1 represents a perspective sectional view showing parts of the upper, outer sole, and inner sole, assembled in their relative positions, but without the through and through stitches which unite said parts, the parts being shown as perforated to provide stitchreceiving holes in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 represents a section on line 2 2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 represents a section on line 33 of Fig. 2; Fig/4l represents a view similar to a portion of Fig. 1 showing the parts united by stitches; Fig. 5 represents a section on line 5--5 of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 represents a section on line 6- -6 of Fig. 5; and Fig. 7 represents a perspective view of the awl employed in forming the stitch-receiving holes in the outer sole, upper and inner sole.

Similar reference characters indicate the saine or similar parts in all the figures.

In the drawings, 12 represents an upper of a McKay-sewed shoe, and 13, 111 represent respectively thel outer and the inner soles, the edge of the upper being turned inwardly and interposed between the outer and inner soles as usual.

In carrying out my invention I form a series of stitch-receiving holes 15 in the portions of the upper, outer sole and inner sole through which the stitches uniting said parts are to pass. These holes are formed by an awl having flat, opposite sides 16 (see Fig. 7 said awl having also a chisel edge so that its passage through the superimposed parts will form flat, clean-cut slits having parallel sides. The length of each slit 15 is greater than the combined thickness of the two strands 17 of thread which are passed through the slit in forming the usual chain stitches represented by Fig. 6, where 172L representthe interlocking loops, and 17b the single thread portions of the stitches, the loops being laid in the usual channel formed in the outer face of the outer sole, while the single thread portions lie on the foot-supporting surface of the inner sole. The width of each slit 15 is' less than the combined thickness of the strands 17. l The slits are arranged so that they are elongated in a direction substantially at right angles with the edge of the outer sole, as shown by Figs.

1 and 2. In other words, the flat sides of the slits are substantially at right angles with the edge of the outer sole.

The entire series of stitch-receiving slits are made before the stitches are formed, the upper, outer sole and inner sole being temporarily held together by suitable means such as the usual shoe-laying tacks, while t-he slits are being formed by a suitable perforating machine of which the awl above described forms apart, the stitches being subsequently formed by a McKay sewing machine which differs from the ordinary machine only in that the needle employed is much smaller than usual so that it is adapted to carry a relatively small thread.

It will now be understood that the upper and outer sole and the inner sole are united by chain stitches, Vthe strands 17 of which pass through the slits 15 while the loops 17a are laid in the channel of the outer sole, and the single thread portions 17b are laid on the upper surface of the inner sole.

My invention characterized by the form and` relative arrangement of the stitch-receiving slits 15 above described, enables me to secure the following advantageous results :(1) The flat sides slits may be made relatively close together without impairing the strength of the parts in which they are formed, so that I am enabled to form shorter stitches and employ a smaller thread than heretofore, the result being an increased flexibility of the bottom of the shoe. (2) The material between the flat sides of adjacent slit-s is compressed by the strands 17 of the stitches, so that the sides of each slit are closed in the completed shoe upon the strands 17, a tight joint thus being formed around the said strands. The compression of the material is indicated by the shaded portions in Fig. 5.

I-Ieretofore, so far as I am aware, it has been the universal practice in sewing a shoe by a McKay machine to use a needle of relatively large diameter and consequently of sufficient strength to penetrate the parts to be united, the hole formed by the needle being therefore larger than the combined thickness of the strands 17 which are inserted in said holes.

Owing to the relatively large size of the needle and the holes formed thereby, a relatively thick and heavy thread has been necessary, but notwithstanding this, the thread in the completed shoe has not completely filled the holes in which it is inserted. In using the sewing needle as the instrumentality for forming the stitch-receiving holes, it is necessary to space the Vholes much farther apart than is necessary when the holes are formed in accordance with my invention, because the relatively large holes formed by the needle, if spaced as contemplated by my invention, would weaken the parts in which the holes are formed. It is very well known that the relatively small thread, the employment of which is made possible by my invention, is not open to this objection.

It will be seen from the foregoing that several objections to the ordinary McKaysewed shoe are overcome by my invention.

It will be understood that the usual channel lip or flap 20., shown by Figsl and 4,

is turned down to cover the stitches in the usual way.

My invention by enabling the stitches to be formed much closer together thanheretofore, without weakening the material, enables me to produce a seam better adapted to exclude water than any seam of this character heretofore produced by a McKay machine. Y

In practice thestitches are preferably not more than one eighth of an inch long, or

eight to an inch. It is feasible however, to yemploy as many as twelve stitches to the inch, whereas with the ordinary stitch it is not advisable to employ more than three and one half to the inch. The flat sides of the awl are preferably about one sixteenth of an inch wide, the awl being made as thin as possible without sacrificing strength.

As above mentioned, the invention enables a smaller needle and a finer thread to be employed and shorter stitches made, than with ordinary McKay sewing as at present.

The closer arrangement of the stitches renders the shoe more nearly waterproof, and makes a stronger seam. Moreover the small thread employed enables a shallower channel to be utilized, resulting in causing much less of a ridge than when the ordinary relatively coarse thread is employed.

I claim i Ashoe in which the edge of the upper is turned inwardly between the outer and inner soles and united thereto by chain stitches passing straight through said parts, the.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. G. 

